Aurora Maintenance Worker Guilty In Teen's Shooting Death

AURORA, CO — An Arapahoe County District Court jury last week found an apartment maintenance worker guilty in a 2017 shooting that left a teenager dead and a young man seriously wounded, the county's top prosecutor announced Monday. Margarito Najera-Soto, 45, of Aurora was convicted on Wednesday, April 17, on charges of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault.

The charges stem from the death of Manuel Estevan Hernandez-Serrano, who was 18 and lived in Aurora, and wounds sustained by his cousin, according to Arapahoe District Attorney George Brauchler.

Najera-Soto and his victims did not know each other and had never encountered each other previously, and the victims were unarmed, Brauchler said in a news release. His office said the cousin was 21 years old at the time of the shooting, but did not release the cousin's name.

“He emptied his handgun into a car from close range, murdering one teenager and nearly killing his cousin, and then calmly walked away. One life is cut short, an unimaginable loss for a family, and a life forever changed ... all over nothing,” Brauchler said. “Isn’t this why we build prisons? I am hopeful the victims find some sense of closure and justice from the jury’s verdict in this case.”

Najera-Soto is scheduled to be sentenced on June 21. He faces a sentence ranging from 16 to 48 years on the second-degree murder charge.

The shooting occurred on April 28, 2017, when Najera-Soto was doing grounds maintenance at Residences at Trolley Park Apartments at 1445 Dallas St. in Aurora, according to prosecutors. Hernandez-Serrano was driving his cousin in a black Subaru Impreza on East 14th Street when Najera-Soto gestured to them.

Hernandez-Serrano turned the car around and pulled alongside the defendant on 14th Street, prosecutors said. Najera-Soto then directed them into an alley near a parking garage.

A few words were exchanged, and Najera-Soto fired six shots from his .38-caliber handgun into the car, prosecutors said.

"Hernandez-Serrano was shot in the head and chest and died," the statement added. "His cousin was shot in the knee, arm and abdomen and survived."

Najera-Soto then called 911 and waited at the scene until Aurora police arrived, the prosecutors said.